Al-Ma'idah 18: The Jews and Christians said; “We are Allah’s sons and beloved ones”. Say (to them); “If so, why does Allah punish you due to your sins? The truth is, you are people Allah has created. Allah forgives those amongst you who desire (to be forgiven from Allah) and Allah punishes those among you who do not. The bounties of all things in the heavens and the earth and between them belong to Allah. At the end, the return is to Allah”.

Verse 18: The Jews and the Christians said, we are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones. His beloved ones, they said. Who? The Jews and the Christians. We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones, they said. Say: then why does He punish you for your sins, Allah Almighty? (?), you are the son of Allah, you are a servant Allah loves, you are His beloved ones. Why does He punish you? Would a person throw his son, his child, into fire and burn him, however bad he may be? Yes, he beats him and so on. But would he torment him? (?) how beautifully Allah Almighty puts it. Well then, why does He punish you for your sins?

In truth, you too are among the people He created. Among the people He created. Now here again there is a verse that has been explained wrongly. Verse 18. This part has been explained wrongly. Of Surah Al-Ma'idah.

He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills, it says. Here it is not our Lord's willing. This willing is the people's willing. This willing is the people's willing. What are we saying? He forgives the one who asks it of Him. Whoever wishes it from Allah, asks for His pardon, He forgives. And He punishes the one who wishes it. Does the one who wishes, wish for punishment? Well, if you go outside the limits of our Lord's noble rulings, did Allah punish you, or did you punish yourself? What does the verse say? Allah does not wrong souls, it says. You wrong yourselves with your own nafs. So did Allah wrong you here?

Whatever is in the heavens, on earth and between them belongs to Allah, it says. Yes, it now supports the verse from a moment ago. And the return in the end is to Him alone. Every soul shall taste death, and in the end you will be returned to Him, it says.

We will turn you back into your first form of creation, it says. Allah Almighty: in the first sense, in this world, the first form of creation is powerless, and in old age too one turns powerless again. That is in the first sense. And in the second sense, the first form of creation: nafs and life and spirit are one, the bodies are separate. we will turn you back into your first form of creation, it says. Here's another verse for you, showing that it is so. You will come before Me in your first form of creation, it says. In your first form of creation. There: spirit, nafs and life are one, the bodies separate.

When you come before Me with (?), it says. The body is separate. See how beautifully the verses always support each other like this. None of them stands apart. None of: give me this meaning, give the other one that meaning, and so on. No. The verses always support each other like this. Of course, this happens if (?) a person of inner meaning, a scholar. It happens if our Lord grants it. The verses.

The Jews and the Christians, by saying we are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones, appointed themselves gods like the Pharaohs. Yes. Pharaoh too said I am god, you know, said I am your Lord, you know, I am your deity, he said. Now if these are sons of Allah, His beloved ones, they too become other gods indirectly.

These people, who have no proof or evidence in their hands, associated partners with Allah. Indeed, Allah is One in His Being. Qul huwallahu ahad, Allahus-samad. He is One in His Being; He has need of neither wife nor child, it says. These have families; all of them became sons of Allah, became His beloved ones. Well, they are human, we are human too. We have no distinction from them. They too have eyes that see, hands that hold, feet that walk, ears that hear, tongues that speak. We are no different from one another. We all come from the same origin. Allah, who created you from a single soul, it says.

So if you are the son of Allah, and the other is His beloved, and the other is human, what are they to Him? Well, are they set apart? As humans, they... now did you set them apart, by what did you set them apart? There is no difference between you and me, is there? We are of the same origin. Yes.

For this reason, too, they incurred Allah's wrath. All created beings are mortal. Allah alone is Everlasting. Huwal-awwalu wal-akhiru waz-zahiru wal-batin. He is the First, the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. For Allah to be Allah, He must possess three qualities. Three qualities: Hu, to be Allah. That is, to be a god, to be a creator. What are they? First, He must be immortal. Immortal. His own life, His will, must be in His own hands. He must have brought Himself into being, He must be immortal. Second, He must neither be born of anyone nor give birth. He must subsist by His own being. By His own being.

Third, He must have the power to bring into being from nothing, that is, to create, and keep what He creates under His rule.

That is Allah, that is God. How are you the son of Allah? How are you the beloved of Allah? You don't have such qualities. If you were the son of Allah, He would give you these qualities. Hodja, didn't He give them to Jesus? He (?) the blind, he raised the dead. He gave them to the Prophet too. With the Prophet too, (?) came about, He made the dead speak for him too, the trees spoke. So this is not from their own qualities; to prove that they are prophets, these are Allah's miracles upon them. Who was doing this, again? Allah does it. Moses putting his hand into his bosom and it giving off such a light, throwing his staff and it becoming a dragon; at first he got scared and ran. At Tur, when he threw the staff and it became a dragon: Do not fear, O Moses, take it in your hand, He says.

Yes, so these events they displayed are the miracles that Allah Almighty, to support His prophets, showed them, had them show, from our Lord. Otherwise these are beyond their power, even though they are prophets. For example, the Messenger of Allah, Shaqq al-Qamar: he split the moon in two. These are all Allah's miracles. Yes.

if some humans had become gods, they would be marked with immortality, the mark of a god; by no one would they give birth or be born; they too would have the power to create; for people who have none of these three qualities to talk like this, how ridiculous it is, we wrote. Yes, and you know, in the previous verse we said they separate the affairs of this world and the Hereafter. When they look at people, beware the insight of the believer, they see with Allah's light, as it says; with these qualities of theirs we see how much ignorance they are in, how full of hatred and loathing toward Allah they are, how much they, deifying their own nafs, turn away from Allah, we see. And the hatred and pride, arrogance and grandeur in their own nafs we see.

Theirs.

At the same time, those who believe in this also make themselves ridiculous. People who cannot own themselves: they don't own themselves, so how could they own others? He does not own himself. A person who is unable to govern himself, or who cannot keep his own body, its things, in his own hands, that is: keep your body young, or don't let your illness come, or (?) your operation, and use your body as you wish. You are in helplessness, you are dependent on your comfort. Talking like this both makes you ridiculous and makes these gods ridiculous. So Allah, who unites these three qualities in His Being, is by His Being eternal, everlasting and Hayy.

Allah, who unites these three qualities in His Being, by His Being eternal, everlasting; that is, Allah Almighty's Hu and (?), it says. Hu: the one who subsists by His Being, it says, who subsists by His Being, who has not begotten, not begotten by anyone, and who exists by Himself: the meaning of the name Hu. Yes. By His Being, He is eternal, everlasting and Hayy. (?) who governs the worlds and meets their needs. Yes. The dominion and sovereignty of the heavens, the earth and what is between them belong to Allah. Because He created them. He is the owner of this dominion, of the sovereignty over these creations.

And such a sovereignty: He created, and (?) His creation, He has established His sovereignty outside time and space. Yes. When we say this, they say, can Allah have a sovereignty, (?)? There is the Bayt al-Ma'mur. Where is the Bayt al-Ma'mur? Allah has a place (?). Outside time and space. Yes. Does He wander about there aimlessly? Allah Almighty.

Because besides Him there is neither a creator nor a god. How exalted is the glory of Allah, who holds the sovereignty over dominion and creation, we wrote. Yes, His glory is exalted. He is the Possessor of honour. If there is anyone seeking honour, it says, he should seek it with Allah, it says. Yes.

There. Well. Then why does He punish you for our sins? Come on. If you are a god too, if you are a god too, stand against Allah who created you and save yourself from the punishment He gives you.

Besides, if you've accepted yourself as Allah's son, why would He put you into that punishment? Why would He leave you subject to eternal punishment? You said a moment ago: a person beats his child, gets angry, but cannot leave him subject to eternal punishment. He is a father, he has that conscience. So if Allah is the Possessor of mercy, if Allah's pardon is abundant, if Allah forgives sins abundantly, if He is the Possessor of mercy, would He ever leave a person, let alone His own child, subject to punishment? Yes.

All created humans are created from a single soul. This too goes to a very deep meaning.

But what did we write here? So as humans, people do not differ from each other by creation, we wrote. But in Allah's sight, it is about obeying or not obeying Allah. Yes, so as humans, by creation, people do not differ from each other. The difference in Allah's sight is about obeying or not obeying Allah. Obeying or not obeying Allah. When it says created from a single soul, they take it as Adam. We were created from Adam.

And Adam was created from clay. Is there a nafs in clay?

After shaping the clay, He gives it the spirit. He tells the angels and Iblis: prostrate to him. Because in the spirit there are life and nafs. Spirit, life, nafs are one; the body is separate.

Because in this world we come from the sons of Adam, from Adam, because we come from Adam, from the (?) of the sons of Adam, they take the human factory, as a body, as a single soul. Actually it is not a single soul. There is our mother Eve too. That makes one and a half souls.

Yes. So when it says the One who created from a single soul, were not the spirits of all the prophets created from the spirit of the Messenger of Allah? So all of them come from the spirit of the Messenger of Allah, from a single soul. So did Allah Almighty not give of His own spirit to the Messenger of Allah? Here Allah Almighty shows that we are all a part of our Lord, that He has not separated us from His Being. But not as the disbelievers, the non-Muslims say: we are not Allah's sons, Allah's beloved ones, We are created beings. Our Lord separated us from His Being, but however much He separated us from His Being, He created us in proportion to His will.

So we are the created, we are creatures. So the Creator, who has might and power in His Being, the One, is Allah. Because He did not separate us from His Being, because He created us very close to His Being, He created our reason incomplete; with our incomplete reason we will err, we will declare our helplessness before our Lord, we will bow our heads, and we will fit the purpose of our creation. Why is Allah Almighty, toward desires like fame, renown, pride, arrogance, ego and grandeur, by His Being, hostile? Because He created us very close to His Being. So the (?) of a single soul goes that far.

So as humans, people do not differ from each other by creation. The difference, in Allah's sight, is about obeying or not obeying Allah. Our difference lies there. Whoever obeys Allah is Allah's beloved servant. Whoever steps outside Allah's commands is one left subject to Allah's wrath, a servant He created.

He forgives the one who asks Him for pardon and forgiveness. Allah Almighty: whoever errs and, when he realizes his error, turns to Allah Almighty and asks for pardon and forgiveness, our Lord forgives him. Because His pardon is great, His mercy great; He is Allah whose forgiveness is abundant.

And He punishes the one who wishes to be punished. Because when one steps outside the command, when Allah Almighty says don't do this, and he steps outside it, he has punished his own nafs himself. A question may come to mind. Does a person wish punishment on his own nafs? We say, yes. He opposes Allah, does not hold Him great, does not obey Him, and does not turn back from his mistakes; if he dies like that, he has wished punishment on his own nafs. Otherwise Allah does not intend injustice to people. According to the verse "what you have earned is the return of your own two hands", Allah, as the Judge of judges, gives them the return of what they earned in full measure.

Whatever is in the heavens and on earth and between them belongs to Allah. Because He is the Creator. There is no being that has a part in this creation of Allah's. Or a portion. It's impossible. None of us, even in these things we own, has a right in them, a right of ownership. What does it say? Every soul shall taste death. The inheritance of the heavens and what is between them will remain with Allah. Because He created it, He is its owner, and the inheritance will remain with Him. So these created things are for meeting our needs within our temporary life and, within these wishes and desires, with the trades we have made, have made, for proving what kind of person we are.

Yes.

Whatever is in the heavens and on earth and between them belongs to Allah. And the return in the end is to Him alone. So Allah Almighty, constantly calling out to the whole universe with this verse: is there any god besides Me? (?) what does it say? Where does it say such a thing, Hodja? Doesn't it? La ilaha illallah. Yes. Doesn't it say in the verses: there is no god but Allah. Those you worship, it says. Those who are not even of benefit to themselves, it says. They are Allah's servants, those you worship, it says. They are unaware even of your worshipping, it says. In all the verses Allah Almighty calls out to people.

There is no god besides Me. O people I created. O My servants whom I created. Use your covenant. Return to Me, He says. If you seek life, if you want to be sultans of the Hereafter, I am not telling you to work and give it to Me, He says. Is there such a verse? There is. It does not say work and give it to Me. Look. I'll probably find it now, with Allah's permission, that verse. Yes.

Yes.

This as the last. When we look for it, we can't find it, like this. What does it say? Allah (?).

Here Yes of course we found the word. (?). Surah Muhammad, 37th verse. Verse 37. If He asked for them, that is all of it; let's read from the one before. Indeed, the life of this world is only play and amusement. Play and amusement. If you believe and are mindful, Allah will give you your reward and will not ask you to spend your wealth entirely, it says. Will not ask you to spend your wealth entirely. If He asked you for all of it, asked you for all of it and pressed you, you would be stingy, and this would bring out your hatreds, it says. Your hatreds. Here you are, called to spend in the way of Allah; among you some are stingy, but whoever is stingy is only stingy toward himself, it says.

You know, in one verse what did Allah Almighty say: whoever buys (?) with their lives and their wealth, it says. Yes. So Allah Almighty does not tell us, of our wealth (?), give all of it. Because then all of us (?). That's what Allah Almighty says. And He says that. It would throw out our hatreds. Of course not everyone; since Allah Almighty knows, what does He tell them: you only give charity from what you have, to earn Allah's mercy; give zakat, He says, from what you have, raise your brothers' social living standards, He says. Yes. Is there, He says, besides Me another owner of the created things, He declares. If, in the face of these verses, no one comes forward, and if those who came forward too, being mortal, die and pass away, yes, the heavens and the earth, these two and what is between them: the one who holds their ownership and has absolute power is Allah, it belongs to Allah. All created things are Allah's creation. There is no god but Allah. Yes. The inheritance of the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah; according to the verse every soul shall taste death and in the end all creation and the end of every matter will be returned to Allah.

So the people who have no proof in their hands, those who say we are Allah's beloved ones, hellfire will not touch us for more than three days, are those who, living in their own fantasy world, are wrongdoers against their own nafs, we wrote.